Pope Francis: Nagorno-Karabakh is experiencing a humanitarian crisis

2023-10-01 15:38:42, Kosova & Bota CNA

Pope Francis called on Sunday for talks between Azerbaijan and Armenia to restore peace to Nagorno-Karabakh, adding that the region is experiencing a humanitarian crisis.

"I have been following the dramatic situation of displacement of people from Nagorno-Karabakh in recent days and I repeat my call for talks between Azerbaijan and Armenia, hoping that the talks between the parties will bring a long-term agreement, which will give end of the humanitarian crisis," the pope said on Sunday.

More than 100,000 refugees have arrived in Armenia since Azerbaijan's military operation to retake Nagorno-Karabakh, the United Nations said on Saturday.

On September 28, the leaders of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic said that their separatist-style entity would cease to exist as of January 1.

The president of Karabakh, Samvel Shahramanian, said that this decision was taken after the situation created and after Azerbaijan gained full control in this region.

His decree cited the reaching of a ceasefire last week to end the fighting.

Nagorno Karabakh, known as Artsak by Armenians, is a landlocked mountainous region in the South Caucasus.

Since the fall of the Russian Empire in 1917, both Azerbaijan and Armenia claim control over it.

The territory is internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan, but its inhabitants are mainly ethnic Armenians and they have their own Government, which has always had close ties with the Government in neighboring Armenia, but is not officially recognized by it or other member states of the Organization of the United Nations.

The Armenians, who are Christians, claim a long historical dominance in the area, dating back several centuries BC.

Azerbaijan, whose inhabitants are mainly Muslim, also ties its historical identity to this territory. He accuses the Armenians of expelling the Azerbaijanis who lived there in the 1990s./ REL